Prison escapee killed after 5-day manhunt

HOUSTON - A Florida prisoner who escaped after stabbing a detective with a sharp piece from his eyeglasses was shot dead by police on Saturday in Texas, authorities said.

Alberto Morales was gunned down by officers who received information about his whereabouts from a resident near Lake Grapevine in northern Texas, according to police authorites in Southlake, Texas.

"I am happy to report to you that the search for escaped fugitive Alberto Morales has ended," Southlake police chief Steve Mylett said in a message posted on the Internet.

Morales was killed after he had committed a residential burglary and refused to surrender, Mylett added.

Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling told a news conference that officers instructed Morales to lie on the ground and show his hands, but he refused and rushed toward them instead.

A massive five-day manhunt started after 42-year-old Morales escaped Monday at a Wal-Mart store parking lot in Grapevine, a community near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Texas.

Morales reportedly used a sharp piece from his eyeglasses to stab a detective, Jaime Pardinas, who was transferring him by car to Nevada, where Morales was to serve a sentence of 30 years to life after being convicted of a sexual assault.

Pardinas, treated at a Dallas hospital for deep stab wounds to the neck, shoulder and back, and a collapsed lung, was released from the hospital Saturday, according to local media reports.

Pardinas and another detective flied to Houston with Morales and then decided to drive the rest of the way after Morales became disruptive on the flight. They had stopped at the Wal-Mart store while waiting for a third officer to join them.